The stapler as it is known within the art is most generally a device adapted to fasten a U-shaped metal fastener referred as a staple to secure adjoining objects, such as individual sheets of paper. Staples are generally comprised of a crown portion coupled to a pair of opposed legs with the ends of legs extending opposite the crown and generally having a point or sharpened end adapted to pierce an object the staple is placed within. Staples are typically provided in a strip wherein individual staples are separated from the strip during use in fastening.
Current staplers in the art are generally comprised of an arm portion in hinged communication with a base portion. The staples are generally positioned within a magazine pivotally received within the arm portion and manipulated though a movable carriage in resilient communication with an end of the magazine adjacent a hinged connection with the base portion though a spring. A tooth is typically placed within an underside of the arm portion and adapted to strike the crown portion of an individual staple when the arm portion is generally manipulated in a direction towards the objects to be adjoined. As the staple penetrates the object being fastened, the opposed legs of the staple are compressed into an anvil portion of the base portion on an opposed side of the object to be fastened to bend the legs against the object in a secure coupling.
Typically, the staples placed within a given stapler are provided in the strip within the magazine and generally replaced when the magazine is empty. Sometimes during use, the staples become jammed or stuck within the magazine. To determine if the stapler is empty or jammed, a user is required to separate the pivotal assembly of the arm and magazine to visually inspect the magazine and determine if the device is jammed or the addition of staples is necessary.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous for the user of a stapler to have the ability to view the amount of staples present within the stapler or determine if the stapler is jammed without having to open the stapler. Still further, it would be advantageous to have a stapler that included a removable staple removal tool and staple jam removal tool integrated within a base portion of the stapler.